Meet David Laing

Q&A with David Laing

Senior Principal, Cardno

Cardno is a provider of professional services in engineering, planning and environmental science to a range of government organisations, private developers, industry, community groups and not for profits. They work across Australia and internationally.

What have you found to be the main advantage of basing your business in Wollongong?

The supportive business environment would be the biggest advantage.

Also, the majority of our clients, regulators and staff are here. We can easily go and meet directly with supportive infrastructure agencies like the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Wollongong City Council, Invest Wollongong or Destination Wollongong.

Wollongong is a liveable city that is home to 300,000 people and I can literally walk into town with my wife to a restaurant from home and be there in 15 to 20 minutes.

What is your pitch for Wollongong?

Don’t put up with the unaffordability, limited outdoor options or the lack of time you can spend with your family because of bad traffic in the major cities. In Wollongong, you’ll find a place where you are five minutes from home, five minutes from the rainforest and five minutes from a beach.

Come and enjoy a regional lifestyle without needing to sacrifice your career.

How does being based in Wollongong help with your work-life balance?

In Wollongong, you don’t need to ‘pay an arm and a leg’ for a house and your workplace can be five minutes from home. You arrive to work refreshed in the morning. And because of the time you save avoiding a long commute you have time to engage in other activities with your family or friends.

You have time to pursue your interests and take care of your health. You can be a cyclist, you can be a swimmer, a runner, or a bush walker. Living and working in Wollongong allows you to have the time to do all those things!

Whereas I know firsthand from my friends in Sydney that when you spend an hour and a half stuck in traffic every day, then you start to forget about life.

As a keen cyclist I can ride an hour and a half in the morning, and then get to work at 8:15am. Who does that? We do!

Do you find it easy to recruit staff in Wollongong?

Yes! There are lots of graduates coming out of the University of Wollongong and there are also a lot of people in Sydney who are just fed up with the congestion and the chaos and who move to Wollongong for a better lifestyle.

What are some of the things you personally love about living in Wollongong?

Everything I want is here. Being an outdoorsy person and enjoying exercise, I have some great options for cycling, bush walking and surfing. I love all that. I am also spoiled by choice for restaurants and food because I live in Wollongong.

I love cycling though the Jamberoo Valley in the early hours on the weekends – there’s a mist, there’s cows, no traffic, and you can’t help but think “I’m in heaven”.

Wollongong also has spectacular landscape. It’s really breathtaking.

What would be your top three things to see or do in Wollongong for newcomers?

First of all, drive and familiarise yourself with the landscapes up and down the coast. I suggest heading up and over to the Southern Highlands and go down through Kangaroo Valley to see some spectacular landscapes.

Second, pick one of those places you saw and immerse yourself in it. Go for a swim, go for a bush walk, a bike ride or even hang gliding. Or go and see a famous location like the Scarborough Pub. But don’t just think “Wow, that looks great” go and immerse yourself in it. Don’t just be a bystander, partake in these activities.

Third, go and experience the vibe of the place. Meet the people who live at Scarborough, Windang, West Dapto or Port Kembla and who would never live anywhere else.

What do you think makes Wollongong unique?

You can locate or relocate your business to Wollongong with no impact to the things that you need to do to run a business.

If you, like Cardno, set up a regional base in Wollongong, you and your staff will also get all enjoy all of the benefits this city will give you.

An amazing lifestyle, close proximity to Sydney, low cost real estate and access to high quality and loyal staff.